


Birds Of A Feather

by shiny_glor_chan



Series: Puppet'verse [2]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Puppets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-11
Updated: 2008-10-11
Packaged: 2018-10-25 01:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10753536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiny_glor_chan/pseuds/shiny_glor_chan
Summary: Freaky kid stalking Robin + intimidating Batman puppet = ???The first of the puppets touch down on Earth. The Batman puppet inadvertently made the second and third Robin meet years earlier than they would have. Maybe the start of a friendship?





	Birds Of A Feather

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in the series for Jason/Tim 'verse inside Puppet'verse. The Puppet'verse prologue isn't strictly needed, but it explains the crack idea of puppets trying to fix the DCU.

Jason was bored, but Batman had told him to patrol the city quietly tonight and if he did, he would learn a few new acrobat tricks from Dick. Not that Dick liked him very much; it was not Jason like _tried_ to take his place as Robin. Though he really wanted to learn some new flips, Jason was itching for a fight.

Lightning flashed across the sky, and something fluttered down from the sky, landing in an alley down below. Jason raised an eyebrow, thinking he should check it out. It was not like he was going far from his post anyway. Scaling down the building took less than a minute before he jumped down into the alley, noticing something move behind the trashcans when he landed.

Jason growled as he grabbed behind the trashcans, pulling up a kid that maybe a few years younger than him. The kid had a camera around his neck and seemed to be struggling with something. Tearing the camera away from the kid just before dropping him to the ground, he noticed a dark shadow had been after the camera.

The kid winced as the dark shadow perched on Jason's shoulder. Jason turned to glare at the little shadow to notice it was a puppet of Batman. Jason snorted before turning back to the kid. "So kid, what were you up to with this camera?" Jason asked tossing it up and down in his hand, making the kid squirm uncomfortably.

"N-nothing, Ja- Robin," the kid stuttered.

Jason raised an eyebrow before the Batman puppet moved on its own. It jumped down to the ground, looking up at the kid. For a hand puppet, it was rather menacing. Jason chuckled. "This yours, kid?" he asked, gesturing to the puppet with amusement clear in his voice.

The kid shook his head. "No way. Whatever it is, it's the reason you spotted me tonight," he grumbled, looking over the puppet.

Jason frowned. "What do you mean _tonight_?"

The kid noticed his blunder, gulping a little. "I didn't mean anything by it..." he said quietly.

Jason was about to speak up, but the Batman puppet had other plans. The puppet jumped up and tackled the kid to the ground. A pile of garbage bags broke his fall as the puppet of the Dark Knight of Gotham stood menacingly on the kid's chest, as if he could make him talk.

Though he still thought the kid was up to something, he was sure that he was just a normal kid, not like the puppet that was attacking him. A menacing hand puppet was definitely out of the ordinary, even in a city like Gotham with all its rogues and crazies and down right _strangeness_. Jason quickly pulled the puppet off the kid and threw it into the wall. The puppet looked up at Jason for a moment, with an almost betrayed look before setting off into the night sky with a mini grappling hook.

Jason blinked as the puppet flew out of sight. "What the fuck?" Jason grumbled. "This town just gets crazier and crazier."

The kid was sitting up again when Jason turned back around. "I'm surprised you didn't try to run off, kid."

"That would have been stupid. You would have found me in under five minutes even if I ran," the kid stated as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Yes, I would have," Jason said smugly. "Now, tell me how long you have been following me."

"...since you became Robin, Jason," the kid answered quietly.

Jason's eyes widened just before they narrowed in anger. He grabbed the kid's shirt, hoisting him up in the air then pushing angrily against the wall. "How do you know my name?" he hissed.

The kid, to his credit, did not struggle in Jason's angry grip. "I'll tell you everything, but don't you think it'd be better to _not_ talk about yours and Batman's secret identities in public?"

The kid made sense, Jason thought as he put the kid down begrudgingly. "Then where to, kid?" he asked, unhappy with the situation, but not willing to let Batman know just yet.

"Stop calling me kid. My name's Tim," he huffed. "There's no one home at my house, so we can head there. Do you know where the Drake Manor is?"

Jason pulled out his grappling gun and grabbed Tim around the waist. "Yeah, I know where it is," Jason muttered before shooting the grappling hook into the air. "Out of all the things, a rich kid figured it all out."

"I'm only two years younger than you, so you can't call me a kid!" Tim complained before they flew off into the air towards Drake Manor.

They landed at the front door, and Tim quickly unlocked the front door, letting himself and Jason into the Manor. No one was around, just as Tim had said. It was eerily quiet, Jason noticed, as he followed Tim up the stairs and into Tim's room. When Tim flicked the lights on, Jason was not too shocked to find all the drawings of super heroes pinned on the wall.

Jason lightly kicked the door behind him, crossing his arms over his chest to look authoritative. "Now, tell me everything."

Tim did as he was told. He told Jason about when he was three and saw the Flying Graysons fall from the trapeze to their deaths, the first time he saw Batman, when exactly he started putting together the identities of Batman and Robin all because of a clip of Robin doing a flip that only Dick Grayson could do, and after finding out Dick Grayson was Bruce Wayne's ward, it was only natural to assume Bruce was Batman. He explained that he had to solidify his theory with evidence, so when he was nine, Tim had started following Batman and Robin. He knew when Dick had went from Robin to Nightwing and when Jason had become Robin, only a year ago.

Jason was almost agape when Tim finished explaining everything. "You figured all this out when you were _nine_!?" Jason exclaimed, shock clear in his voice.

Tim nodded. "Don't worry, it really wasn't as easy as I may have made it sound..." he trailed off when Jason started laughing. "Why are you laughing...?"

Jason paused in his laughter for a moment, but a huge smile still plastered on his face. "Do know how _hilarious_ the look on Bruce's face is going to be? That a _nine_ year old figured out his identity?" he said before he continued to laugh.

Tim bit his lip. "I think what you and I find hilarious greatly differs," Tim muttered. "Maybe it's just better if you don't tell him. I wasn't planning to do anything with the information, really. I was just curious..."

Jason stopped laughing. "Curiosity killed the cat, Timmy," Jason said, almost sounding serious, though it was pretty clear he was mocking Tim. "We'll keep this between us, for now. Though, I'm warning you, no more stalking us. I don't understand how Bruce didn't notice you stalking him for two years."

"I'm very sneaky. No one notices me," Tim answered, almost proud at first, but there was twinge of sadness at the end.

Jason glanced at the clock on Tim's bedside table. He still had an hour to kill before Batman would check up on him. As long as there were no bruised up bad guys lying in alleyways, Bruce probably would not think Jason left his post anyway. He thought what the hell and sprawled out Tim's bed.

"I noticed you, so you can't be _that_ sneaky," Jason stated as he glanced around the room at all the sketches of Batman and Robin.

"No, you wouldn't have noticed me either if it weren't for that weird Batman puppet," Tim paused. "I wonder who made it? It definitely acted a lot like the real Batman, from what I've seen. Maybe Batman sent it to check up on you?"

"Pffft, if Batman wanted to check up on me, he would have came himself," Jason answered. "And like he would use a hand puppet of himself. He's creepy, but not that creepy."

Tim sat down at the chair by is desk that was adjacent to his bed as thoughts ran through his head. "It was strange; it doesn't really fit any of the M.O.'s of any of the villains in Gotham..."

Jason lifted his head from the pillow. "You study up on our villains too now?" he chuckled as he laid his head back down on the pillow. "Man, Bruce would love you. Bet he always wanted a smart Robin.

"Smart Robin?" Tim questioned, the implication of himself being a Robin someday was too much to comprehend. "You and Dick are plenty smart, or why would Bruce have picked you guys?"

Jason snorted. "He didn't pick us exactly. He felt bad for Dickie-boy, and I was stealing the tires off the Batmobile."

Tim's head perked up. "You did? Wow, I wonder why I didn't get a photo of that..."

"Wait, how many photos do you have of us?" Jason asked with a glare.

"Ummm," Tim blushed. "I think I lost count around 500..."

"What!?"

"Don't worry. I haven't developed most of them yet. I only developed a few by myself in my school's dark room, since I was only allowed to take a photography class this year," Tim said as Jason looked at him strangely. "I go to boarding school, if that's why you're staring at me funny. They have a lot of resources that most schools don't."

"Why are you here instead of at school?"

"It's spring break this week. My parents don't know about it, not that they really care," Tim said almost bitterly. "They're off on a business trip in Europe."

Jason could relate to some of what Tim was saying. His mom may have loved him until the day she died, but his father did not show it as much, if he did at all. Jason stood up and walked over to Tim, awkwardly putting a hand on his shoulder. Tim looked up with a small smile that made Jason grin too. Then, an idea hit him. He may not know the kid very well, but if he had not squealed about their secret identities yet, he probably was not going to.

Tim looked at Jason curiously as Jason went for the window. "You're leaving?" he asked, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

After opening the window, Jason turned to face Tim with a mischievous grin. "No worries, I'll be back tomorrow, as Jason Todd," he stated as he climbed onto the window sill, readying his grappling hook to scale down the manor walls. "You'll be staying at the Wayne Manor this week."

Before Tim could say yes or no to the idea, Jason jumped out the window, scaling his way back down to the ground floor. Once Jason's feet his the ground, he broke out into a run. Tim leaned out the window, watching as the Boy Wonder left. "You could have used the front door!" Tim called after him.

Jason turned around with a grin, running backwards as he called back. "Flying out windows is more fun. I'll show you someday!"

Tim smiled to himself as Jason ran out of sight, into the shadows of the night. It seemed like he might not be so lonely anymore. He may have to thank that Batman puppet, wherever it went, for blowing his cover tonight.


End file.
